Selected comments submitted to EPA
As of yesterday, 2,931 comments were logged in the Regulations.gov database. Plenty of these comments are throw-aways (because they address the ammo ban EPA rejected August 23), but in the closing hours of the comment period, a number of good ones were submitted. A few top picks are linked below.
These and many other on-topic comments focused on several familiar themes:
1. Don't beat a dead horse. (In 1994 the EPA proposed a similar ban of lead in fishing tackle and gear, which it later dismissed because there was insufficient data to support it. There remains no scientific basis to ban lead fishing gear.)
2. Leave this to people who know what they're doing. (The states, not the EPA, can most effectively and appropriately manage any necessary regulations. Wildlife management agencies typically manage for healthy and viable populations of wildlife, not individual animals.)
3. Where's the supporting science? (The evidence of negative impacts to fish and wildlife populations from lead sinkers is-
a. insufficient to support regulatory action at the nationwide scale, and
b. small relative to other population-level threats such as habitat degradation, predation, disease, hunting, and the encroachment of invasive species.)
4. Costs are well-documented. (Non-lead fishing tackle products can cost 6 to 15 times more than lead products.)
5. Don't chase away the fishermen and their money. (A national ban will have a significant negative impact on the sportfishing community. Recreational fishing is currently enjoyed by 60 million anglers and provides $125 billion to our economy annually. Contrary to claims made by the petitioners, sinkers and jig heads made from alternative metals are not readily available and can be significantly more expensive than their lead counterparts [up to twenty times more costly.] This will keep many Americans from continuing to enjoy the sport and will result in a loss of fishing license sales and excise tax dollars that are used for state natural resource management and conservation.)
Ed Moes, Owner of Crappie.com
Steve Kagen, MD, Member of Congress (WI)
Arizona Game and Fish Department
Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources
Michigan United Conservation Clubs (MUCC)
Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries
American Fly Fishing Trade Association American Sportfishing Association Archery Trade Association BASS, LLC Berkley Conservation Institute The Billfish Foundation Boone and Crockett Club The Campfire Club of America Catch-A-Dream Foundation Center for Coastal Conservation Congressional Sportsmens Foundation Conservation Force Dallas Safari Club International Game Fish Association Mule Deer Foundation National Assembly of Sportsmens Caucuses National Marine Manufacturers Association National Rifle Association National Shooting Sports Foundation North American Bear Foundation Northwest Sportfishing Industry Association Quality Deer Management Association Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation Ruffed Grouse Society Safari Club International Shikar Safari Club Shimano Sport Fisheries Initiative Texas Wildlife Association Wild Sheep Foundation Wildlife Forever
